Before BlackBerry OS 7, advanced Gmail features were only available in individual messages inboxes (not the combined Messages inbox) using the Enhanced Gmail plugin. The plugin added features such as Report Spam, Add Star, Apply Label and Archive. With BlackBerry 7 these features are brought to the combined messages inbox as well. This is a welcome addition to many BlackBerry users (myself included) that stick to using the combined messages inbox. Keep reading for a quick breakdown of all the advanced Gmail features available for messages.

Advanced Gmail Features in BlackBerry 7

These features can all be accessed from the BlackBerry menu within the messages app on BlackBerry 7. Just highlight a message, press the Menu key then choose what you'd like to do.

Apply Labels

Apply Labels lets you organize your messages with your Gmail labels. The label list will show labels that you have already created in Gmail and you can even add or delete labels right from your device. This feature will help you sort your mail from your BlackBerry so things will be organized in your Gmail account, saving you the time of sorting though your messages when viewing from your PC.

Add Star

No hidden meaning here. The Add Star option lets you star a message from your device. The message will show a small yellow star in your BlackBerry inbox as well as in Gmail. Use the Add Star option for those important messages you need to keep track of on the go, much like the Flag for Followup in the native BlackBerry OS.

Archive

Archive lets you use Gmail's Archive option right from your BlackBerry. This will send the chosen message(s) out of your inbox and archive them through your Gmail account. If you're like me and try to keep your inbox clean all the time, archiving messages is the best way to do that -- and archiving from your device ensures things will be clean the next time you hit your inbox from a PC.

Report Spam

Another self-explanatory option here, Report Spam lets you flag a message as spam from your BlackBerry. Use this feature for those unwanted spam messages that hit your device. The mail will be removed from your Gmail inbox and sent to your spam folder.

Mission: Inbox Zero

Using the advanced Gmail features can help to keep you organized and better manage your inbox. At times it's hard to keep things straight when going back and forth between your mobile device and a PC, but using these tools can can truly help you manage your email inbox on the go so you don't have to stress over only being able to organize your messages from a computer.

9780 here. Messages (you know, the one where all messages go into) only allows me to do remote searches (which I could only do if I was in a gmail box). Adding stars and labels are still restricted to gmail boxes.

Any news on the attachment limit being rised? I read about an 8mb new limit, but then again, gmail holds up to 25mb per email.
It would be sick if they added a way to go retrieve the attachment at the webmail. That way guys like me who work with video and stuff like that could be more at home using these devices.

A little thing but really annoying that it's missing in my opinion: a shortcut key to Archive (and some of the other stuff too but mainly Archive). It is still annoying to have to pop open the menu and confirm for every message.

I still cant forward a mail with attachments without having the original text sent as well. Really wish Blackberry would come up with a solution on OS 7 for this to enable users to edit forwards and then send!

Unfortunately two-way sync still isn't instant on any devices. RIM has a bit of work to do on the instant front. Pretty sure all carriers take a few hours (depending on when you catch the sync) to sync up between device and inbox.

So they still haven't fixed the ridiculous delay in syncing between Gmail and a Berry?? I depend on Gmail a lot and that is the only reason I switched over to an Android phone. As soon as they fix this I'm going straight back to a BB!

I'm on a BES with Exchange already so don't need it for that and when I tried Google Sync it combined my Gmail Contacts and Calendar with my Exchange Contacts and Calendar which I don't want. If this lets me keep them separate and provides real-time Gmail sync TO my BlackBerry, I would love it! Unless someone responds saying it doesn't do that, I'll test it out tomorrow. Thanks!

Emails send and receive instantly but the problem is when you delete or read something from the Gmail server it takes a long time (sometimes hours) for the change to be shown on the BlackBerry. When you use the BlackBerry to delete or read an email the change is shown on the Gmail servers just fine.

This is a Google limitation as they will not let RIM poll in a shorter interval. Unlike other devices, a BlackBerry does not maintain a connection directly with gmail. The servers in the NOC have to scan for changes. Google won't let them lower the lazy sync interval. Imagine having the NOC poll millions of accounts for read/unread changes for every user every 15 minutes. It would crush their servers. Other devices maintain a persistent connection with gmail at the direct cost of battery life.

it's strange though, I actually think it is Google's (gmail's) fault/issue because with Yahoo mail, it sync almost instantly everytime. If I were smart enough, I'd just switch to yahoo mail as my primary email account...

I subscribed to remote Gmail sync (only available for Google Apps Premier) and it works wonderfully. Most remote providers charge about $10/mo which is well worth the price for anyone doing a lot of email via Gmail.

Wow, as soon as I got my 9900 I was wondering why some messages disappeared out of my messages application as soon as I'd read them, but I realise now that this is because those messages are set to be filtered out of my inbox and into a label in gmail! This finally explains it!
Unread messages that are filtered out of your inbox show up in the global messaging app until you've read them, and then they go into their respective folders for their labels.

Hi,
I'm a new BB user (9900) and am just getting things set up. The gmail functionality above worked as described for me. But I have a quick question about Google Calendar. Currently I am able to sync my BB Calendar and Google Calendar. Takes a while for an appointment to show up on my BB if I enter it from a computer onto Google Calendar but I assume that is because of the polling issue mentioned by hooper.
I currently share my Google Calendar with my wife's. While on a computer I can see her calendar entries, I don't see them on my BB. Other than copying her entries to my own calendar on a computer, is there any way that I can see her entries on my BB calendar application? If I can't do this with my BB, does anybody know if this functionality is possible on an Android device?
Thanks in advance,
Gary

How do I download it to my 9930? I went to blackberry.com/gmail and after clicking "download" got this: Sorry, your device does not meet the system requirements that are needed to support Enhanced Googlr Mail plug-in for Blackberry smartphones.

What happened to the "filter" option or the management of sent messages that was part of the Enhanced Gmail Plugin? I feel this built-in gmail support in OS7 is a step backwards from the gmail plugin that was available for my OS6 device.

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